1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air purification system and method. More specifically, the invention is directed to an air conditioning system and method that has an air pollutant removal stage, a pre-cooling stage, and a dual cooling and water removal stage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Air quality has become a serious health and life-style issue. There is a plethora of sources of pollution including, but not limited to: large trucks with diesel engines (source for, e.g., particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide), gasoline driven vehicles (carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides (SOX), hydrocarbons), aircraft engines (carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons such as benzene), and coal fired power stations (SOX and particulates). Rural areas can also suffer from pollution. For example, rural areas along coastlines may be subjected to pollution from oil refineries and other coastal facilities devoted to processing or manufacturing chemicals. Thus, air pollution can be a serious problem in urban and rural areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,302, issued Jan. 7, 2003 to Wong, describes a domestic air purifier that includes a plurality of non-linear conduits through which room air is drawn and into which fluid is introduced to remove particulate matter from the air. A plurality of fluid spraying nozzles provides thorough mixing between air and fluid to maximize the removal of particulates from the air. The fluid circulates continuously from a reservoir through the nozzles and conduits back to the reservoir. Simple fluids, such as water, are preferably used, although disinfectants, deodorants and/or scents may be added to the fluid. The '302 device has numerous problems in use. The '302 device explicitly adds humidity to the cleaned air and, absent a humidity removal stage, the '302 device is not suitable for use in a humid location. In fact, the '302 patent explicitly states that the '302 device “may also serve as a humidifier” (column 4, lines 33–39) Thus, the '302 patent explicitly teaches away from the present invention which removes moisture from the cleaned air.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,148, issued May 8, 2001 to Aaltonen et al., describes a method and an apparatus for separating solid or drop-like particles from an airflow. Air is directed through a separator chamber between an ion generating means and a grounded collector surface, so that the particles are charged by the charging device and accumulate on the collector surface. The air flows along a substantially spiral path around the charging device in at least a part of the separator chamber to induce a centrifugal force so that at least a portion of the particles pass toward the grounded collector surface at the periphery of the chamber. A small flow of purified air flows downwardly in a central part of the separator chamber so that it washes the charging device in the separator chamber. The efficiency of the '148 device is dramatically impacted if the charging device is not maintained in a clean condition.
Japanese Patent Number 7-96,122, published Apr. 11, 1995, describes a water spray type air purifier equipped with a water spray chamber through which air-containing dust is passed from the upstream side to the downstream side, and a water spray device arranged in the water spray chamber. The water spray device comprises a plurality of nozzles for spraying water into the dusty air. The '122 device further comprises a water separator arranged on the downstream side of the water spray chamber. A partition plate is arranged along the flow direction of the dust-contaminated air and almost vertically in the water spray chamber. The direction of the water spray from the water spray device is made parallel to that of sprayed water with respect to the partition plate. The pressure of water spray from the water spray device is equalized to that of the sprayed water hitting against the partition plate. U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,866, issued to Yamagata et al., shows a device in FIG. 21 that appears to be identical to FIG. 1 of the Japanese '122 patent, and notes that the device does not provide for humidifying the air.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus an air purification system and method solving the aforementioned problems is desired.